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#also i love when fantasy does this kind of american gods style 'the gods need and are shapped by mortal belief/worship' angle A LOT
there’s a whole tvtrope about this! Gods Need Prayer Badly. or for the more general case of belief = making it real, Clap Your Hands If You Believe.
(tangent ahead)
I think the first time I came across the “belief shaping gods, even retroactively” angle was in the webcomic Digger, with its in-universe myths about the Good Man and the Black Mother. you can read the relevant pages starting here, it’s like 8 pages. the Black Mother myth was inspired by real life stories told by street children in Miami, as noted in the comments.
later, I also came across this “retroactive shaping” / ”contradictory myths co-existing” idea in Gunnerkrigg Court and Discworld.
I wasn’t going anywhere in particular with this, so I guess this is the end of my post?
Character: “Wow, i didn’t realize the gods were so dependent on the beliefs of everyday mortals like us”
Thor: “Oh, you have no idea. I used to be a ginger until that damn superhero comic book came out.”